Stand Up To Cancer

Cancer Clinical Trials and Stand Up To Cancer

Advances in cancer research are the result of painstaking scientific experiments and discoveries made in the laboratory and the clinic, tested for safety and effectiveness at each stage of the process. These stages of research are called "clinical trials" and are conducted in all research areas from preventing cancer in the first place to developing new treatments for people with cancer. Clinical trials are critical to the development of new drugs, more effective therapies, or less toxic cancer treatments. Without clinical trials there would be no way to determine if new treatments are safe and effective, what risks or side effects they cause, and whether they are equivalent, inferior or superior to treatments already in use.

Today's cancer researchers are on the verge of lifesaving discoveries. But what scientists desperately need are the funds required to mount an all-out assault against cancer. Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is an unprecedented collaboration uniting the major television networks, entertainment industry executives and celebrities, and prominent leaders in cancer research and patient advocacy in a major new initiative to move groundbreaking cancer research out of the lab and into the clinic.

Stand Up To Cancer Background

SU2C is founded on the belief that there is a strong understanding of the basic science of cancer, and with the technologies available, now is the time to take that understanding to the next level by translating this knowledge to the clinic, to real advances in patient care and cancer prevention.

These efforts can help the 1,665,540 people in the United States who will be diagnosed with cancer and the more than 8 million people around the world who will die from cancer this year.*

Since it was founded in May 2008, SU2C has granted over $170 million to 12 Dream Teams of scientists and researchers; two Translational Cancer Research Teams; 26 high-risk, high-reward Innovative Research Grants; and five Phillip A. Sharp Innovation in Collaboration Awards. More than 750 scientists from 112 leading institutions are involved in SU2C-supported research.

SU2C projects include:

On Sept. 7, 2012, a live, one-hour fundraising event aired simultaneously in the United States on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center. This star-studded event built on the continuing public support and donations for cutting-edge cancer research that quickly transfers from the laboratory to treatments and technologies that benefit patients. More than $81 million has been pledged in connection with this third roadblock fundraising telecast (prior shows were held on Sept. 5, 2008, and Sept. 10, 2010).

What is the goal of Stand Up To Cancer?

Simply put, the goal is to raise money to fund the most promising cancer research projects and unite the best scientists who are on the verge of critical discoveries that can provide direct patient benefit in the shortest time possible.

How will donations to Stand Up To Cancer be used?

Seventy percent of SU2C donations directly fund the best and brightest investigators from leading institutions across the country and internationally to work in collaborative, multidisciplinary "Dream Teams." These teams pursue the most promising research, accelerating the discovery of new therapies for cancer patients and/or advancing efforts in cancer prevention research. With sufficient resources to conduct intense, goal-directed, team-oriented approaches to a cancer problem, these teams can be successful. The more funds raised, the more Dream Teams that can be funded.

Twenty percent of SU2C donations directly fund innovative, high-risk, high-reward innovative cancer research proposals that often are not supported by conventional funding sources, but have the potential to improve the lives of cancer patients. The hope is that ideas for new Dream Teams will emerge from these novel projects.

Ten percent of SU2C donations are invested in the SU2C reserve to continue its mission of funding cutting-edge research and bringing effective new treatments to cancer patients in the shortest time possible.

Who chooses the research projects to be funded?

As the scientific partner for SU2C, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conducts expert review of the research projects and provides grants management via a rigorous yet nimble, rapid and transparent process via a "blue ribbon" Scientific Advisory Committee. The Scientific Advisory Committee is led by Chairperson and Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., institute professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT; Vice-chairpersons Arnold J. Levine, Ph.D., professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and Cancer Institute of New Jersey and William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University; and an additional 18 highly accomplished senior laboratory researchers and physician-scientists and two advocates elected by the Advocate Advisory Council.

How can I donate to Stand Up To Cancer?

The Constellation: For a donation of $5 or more, you can launch a star in honor of anyone who has received a cancer diagnosis.

Participate in The Stand: An interactive Facebook application to illustrate that the cancer community encompasses everyone and that we are all connected by this disease. Through Facebook, you will be given the option to give up coffee, movie tickets and other everyday luxuries and donate the amount of money saved to SU2C.

What is the role of the American Association for Cancer Research?

As the sole scientific partner to SU2C, the AACR provides scientific oversight and conducts expert peer review and grants administration for SU2C. The AACR is highly regarded for its scientific excellence, scientific brain trust in all subfields of cancer research and for its peer review process that is fast, flexible, rigorous and transparent. The scientific leadership provided by the AACR is critical to achieving SU2C's mission to translate the most promising cancer research into real advances in cancer treatment and prevention as quickly as possible.

*According to statistics provided by the American Cancer Society, and the World Health Organization.